Production of aluminum foam by spherical carbamide space holder technique-processing parameters

Spherical carbamide has been employed to produce aluminum foams by space holder technique via powder metallurgy route. The effect of different processing parameters such as applied pressure, dissolving time of spacer, sintering temperature and time, metallic additives, on compression properties of the resultant foams has been evaluated. Aluminum foam samples with 40–85 vol.% porosity were successfully produced. Addition of 1 wt.% Sn and Mg to aluminum powder increased strength of the sintered foams. The results indicate that the appropriate compressive properties of foams are achieved under 330 MPa compacting pressure, sintering temperature and time of 640 °C and 2 h, respectively.